Kansas City, Mo. — The Big 12 Conference will be in some uncharted territory this upcoming men’s basketball season. The conference currently has five of the preseason top 10 teams, leading to a belief among pundits and coaches that it is the premier basketball conference in the country.
“I can tell you hands down, this is going to be the hardest year to win in our league,” Kansas coach Bill Self said at the Big 12 basketball media day on Wednesday. “It’s going to be a great league.”
The talent level in the league has changed how Self views his team’s results in the league. In previous years, the Jayhawks were looking to “win the conference at all costs,” according to Self. This year, he’s looking to compete and be among the top in the conference, and that will be enough to have a chance for a good postseason.
KU is ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll with Houston at No. 4, Iowa State at No. 5, Baylor at No. 8 and Arizona at No. 10. Texas Tech, Kansas State, BYU and Arizona State all received votes but didn’t crack the top 25. Self said that a few of those teams will likely make their way into the top 25 at points in the season.
Unlike other conferences or even some prior seasons in the Big 12, the league is strong from top to bottom. It isn’t a top-heavy league with three title contenders and a few of the bottom teams in the country — every team has a chance to win on any given night.
“That’s what makes the league hard,” Self said. “A lot of leagues are top-heavy, but they’re also bottom-heavy. That’s not the case in this league. No matter where you go, winning on the road — or not winning on the road — will not be considered an upset in coaches’ minds.”
The difficulty is only increased with the 20 conference games scheduled conference-wide this year. It’s something that Self isn’t a fan of, considering the already challenging nonconference schedule the Jayhawks have this year. KU will play North Carolina, Duke, Creighton and N.C. State, to name a few. Self said that the nonconference schedule along with the 20-game conference season means that “26 out of your 31 games are basically league games, basically, that you have to win.”
Among their fellow preseason top 10 teams, KU will play Iowa State and Houston twice, and will play once on the road against Baylor and once at home against Arizona.
After Commissioner Brett Yormark acknowledged on Tuesday that the league might not stick with 20 games in future years, KU athletic director Travis Goff said on Wednesday that the conference is in “open discussion” on the future of the conference schedule. He added that the conference is still adapting to having 16 members, and that the assumption was that the conference would continue to play 20 games, but that schools are deliberating about whether that’s the right way to proceed going forward.
Regardless of if it continues or not, it’ll be a difficult schedule for the Jayhawks this year. Senior center Hunter Dickinson said that the team will have to rely on maintaining physical wellness: “Normatec-ing, a lot of Biofreeze, and a lot of trying to take care of your body the best you can.”
KU starts its season against Howard on Nov. 4 and will begin conference play on Dec. 31 at home against West Virginia.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
